It’s that time of year when you’re likely focused on family vacations, BBQs, the beach, and Fourth of July fireworks. But if you’re an online retailer and haven’t already adopted an SSL certificate for your website, Google’s newest Chrome update may hit you with a bang.
Beginning in July 2018 with the release of Chrome 68, Chrome will mark all HTTP sites as “Not Secure”. Google has put a July deadline on a 2016 promise that its updated Chrome browser would tag all websites that don’t encrypt their traffic.
This “Not Secure” indicator will be automatically inserted into the address bar of every website that uses HTTP connections between its servers and users. Sites that instead rely on HTTPS to encrypt the back-and-forth traffic will display their URLs normally in the address bar.
Eventually, Chrome’s “Not Secure” label will be accompanied by a red-for-danger icon.
Trust is Everything
Trust is already a big concern for those shopping online. Many shoppers fear misuse of their data. They also worry about privacy breaches. Having a visual indicator that a site is not secure could further scare off potential visitors. Shoppers will be much more likely to abandon your site if it is not secure. That means fewer conversions and less revenue.
Showing visitors that your site has taken all the necessary precautions to maximize security gives shoppers peace of mind. A big part of convincing people on the path to purchase is creating a sense of trust with potential buyers. This is especially important for new and upstart companies. But it applied to established brands as well.
Consumer skepticism is rampant. Baymard’s Checkout Usability study reveals that 18% of users have abandoned a checkout flow during the last 3 months because they didn’t trust the site.
This is a big problem for internet marketers that are constantly competing for attention and dollars in an increasingly crowded online marketplace. Without consumer trust a brand can wither. Having the SSL certificate can help increase trust with consumers.